Millions of people across the Horn of Africa are facing starvation and the situation could become catastrophic unless urgent action is taken.
A combination of drought, failed harvests and the continued rise in global food prices has left at least 7 million people facing hunger in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Somaliland.
With millions facing hunger and destitution, ActionAid is warning that the region is now reaching a tipping point with increasing numbers of people unable to cope.
In Ethiopia, the government estimates that 4.6 million people need emergency food aid. Less documented is the disastrous food crisis in Kenya, with 1.2 million people already affected and numbers rising daily. Areas which normally get two rainy seasons a year have had inadequate rain for more than 12 months. Crops have failed, livestock have been dying. In northern Kenya, Tangulbei division and the larger part of Baringo district are facing a serious food and water shortage, causing the deaths of vital livestock. Food security in this area is deteriorating and is further complicated by rising food prices and the effects of post election violence. “People have started eating the carcasses of their dead animals which poses a serious health risk. If humanitarian assistance is not forthcoming soon, humans will also succumb to the drought,” said Musa Kibon, ActionAid’s Programme Assistant in Tangulbei.
Our response:
ActionAid is focusing on Ethiopia and Kenya, reaching out to a total of 133,000 people in these two countries by providing food, water, nutrition supplements, clothes, shelter, seeds, farm tools and cooking utensils.
Investing over £100,000 to support communities by buying water tanks, medicine for animals and food for children and mothers.
Helping those who lost their crops, by providing potato tubers to replant plots of land.
So far in Kenya we have reached 25,000 people with water trucks and aim to reach another 65,000 over the coming weeks.
Working with partners in Ethiopia, we have been able to provide food rations for over 1000 children under five.
In conflict-affected Kamashi, we have provided temporary shelters for 300 families, plus seeds, tools and clothes. In Ankober we have enough seeds to distribute to 4400 people and we have already provided 200 children with food.
Ethiopia had its worst-ever drought in 1984 Scientists in Australia and Canada say that pollution from western countries may have caused the droughts which ravaged Africa's Sahel region in the 1970s and 1980s. Millions died in the droughts, which hit Ethiopia hardest in 1984.
It's the first time we've seen a connection between pollution in the mid-latitudes and climate in the tropics
Johann Feichter
Climate expert
Other Sahelian countries, from Senegal in the west stretching east to the Red Sea, were also devastated by the lack of rain and the southwards spread of the Sahara desert. The research says that sulphur dioxide from factories in Europe and the United States has cooled the Northern Hemisphere, driving the tropical rain belt south - away from the Sahel. Rainfall in the region has declined by between 20% and 50%, leading to severe droughts in 1972, 1975, 1984 and 1985. This was the most sustained drought in any part of the world since records began, according to the research which is reported in the New Scientist magazine. But climate experts had been unable to explain the drastic change. Cold north The research was carried out by Leon Rotstayn from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and his colleague Ulrike Lohmann from Canada's Dalhousie University. They ran a simulation of global weather including the interaction between sulphur dioxide emissions and cloud formation.
Sulphur emissions from power stations and factories prevent cloud formation, cooling the Earth below. As this pollution mainly happened in the industrialised north, the Northern Hemisphere became relatively cooler than the south. This caused the rain belt to move south - away from the Sahel. Johann Feichter of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, says the sulphur emissions probably worsened the natural cycle of droughts that would have happened anyway. "It's still speculative, and the model isn't very refined, but it's very interesting.
Port Talbot steelworks in Wales
Have Western factories changed Africa's climate?
"It's the first time we've seen a connection between pollution in the mid-latitudes and climate in the tropics," he said. During the past few years, rainfall has increased in the Sahel. Mr Rotstayn explains this improvement by the "clean air" laws introduced in North America and Europe. This legislation reduced sulphur dioxide emissions in response to another environmental crisis - acid rain.
Africa could be faced with 25% less water by the end of the century because of global warming, scientists have warned in a new report.
The research, published in the journal Science, shows geographical factors will amplify changes in rainfall patterns resulting from climate change.
Semi-arid areas such as southern Africa would be the most vulnerable.
The authors add that water shortages could provoke conflicts over rivers that cross borders.
Failing rains are already a major cause of hardship in Africa, as witnessed by the current drought in East Africa, and climate scientists are working hard to predict how global warming will change rainfall patterns across the continent. Managing water resources
The research shows that rainfall has a direct effect on the way water drains into streams and rivers, and therefore on supply.
When rainfall in an area is less than 400mm per year, there is virtually no drainage into rivers and streams. But above this threshold, as rainfall increases from 400mm to 1,000mm per year, drainage also increases.
Map of Africa (Science)
In effect, this means that in some areas a fall in precipitation can amplify the effect of water loss. For example, in regions that have an average rainfall of 500mm per year, a 10% reduction in rainfall could actually halve the available water.
The wettest and driest regions, such as the Congo basin or Sahara, should not be strongly affected.
But semi-arid regions, such as southern Africa and the Sahel in particular, are extremely vulnerable.
Managing their water resources will become even more critical than it is now, the authors warn, particularly where major rivers cross borders.
But in parts of East Africa, where rainfall is predicted to increase slightly, the extra water could extend existing swamps and the prevalence of the water-borne diseases they foster.
Either way, the study from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, shows adjusting to the effects of climate change could be even harder in Africa than previously realised.
Topic: Earthquakes in Southern California
Part One: Find and research an organization that is currently doing work on your narrowed topic and answer the following questions. Answer the questions and fill out the resource log (it is posted on the wiki under Assignments) and post it on your wiki. What is the organization?
Southern California Earthquake Center What exactly are they doing to try and combat or change your issue?
SCEC is “developing a comprehensive understanding of earthquakes in Southern California and elsewhere, and to communicate useful knowledge for reducing earthquake risk.” What are some of the things you like about their program?
What are some questions you have about it?
Can people from all over the world help? How could you become involved with this organization or model your action plan after it?
By raising money and awareness.
Name: Vanessa & Graham
Part Two: Find and research another organization (yes, this means your group is researching two organizations) that is currently doing work on your narrowed topic and answer the following questions. This person should answer the questions and print out the resource that they gathered this information from. What is the organization?
USGS, It stands U.S geological survey. What exactly are they doing to try and combat or change your issue?
Providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the earth; minimize loss of life and property of national disasters. What are some of the things you like about their program?
That they are trying to reduce to death tolls from natural disasters. Also we like that they have a wide range of topics they are trying to help. What are some questions you have about it?
How many people know about and take part in the activities that USGS runs? How could you become involved with this organization or model your action plan after it?
We could work side by side with the USGS in cutting down the problems we face today little by little. Also we could draw their attention to earthquakes in southern California.
Name: Miles & Erik
Case Study
Group Members: Graham, Vanessa, Erik, MilesIssue: Natural Disasters Prevention and Mitigation
Period: A1
Part One: The Case Study
Table of Contents
Topic: Droughts in East Africa
Articles
http://www.actionaid.org/main.aspx?PageID=1176Africa Droughts
Millions of people across the Horn of Africa are facing starvation and the situation could become catastrophic unless urgent action is taken.
A combination of drought, failed harvests and the continued rise in global food prices has left at least 7 million people facing hunger in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Somaliland.
With millions facing hunger and destitution, ActionAid is warning that the region is now reaching a tipping point with increasing numbers of people unable to cope.
In Ethiopia, the government estimates that 4.6 million people need emergency food aid. Less documented is the disastrous food crisis in Kenya, with 1.2 million people already affected and numbers rising daily.
“People have started eating the carcasses of their dead animals which poses a serious health risk. If humanitarian assistance is not forthcoming soon, humans will also succumb to the drought,” said Musa Kibon, ActionAid’s Programme Assistant in Tangulbei.
Our response:
In conflict-affected Kamashi, we have provided temporary shelters for 300 families, plus seeds, tools and clothes. In Ankober we have enough seeds to distribute to 4400 people and we have already provided 200 children with food.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2042856.stm
West's pollution 'led to African droughts'
Scientists in Australia and Canada say that pollution from western countries may have caused the droughts which ravaged Africa's Sahel region in the 1970s and 1980s.
Millions died in the droughts, which hit Ethiopia hardest in 1984.
It's the first time we've seen a connection between pollution in the mid-latitudes and climate in the tropics
Climate expert
The research says that sulphur dioxide from factories in Europe and the United States has cooled the Northern Hemisphere, driving the tropical rain belt south - away from the Sahel.
Rainfall in the region has declined by between 20% and 50%, leading to severe droughts in 1972, 1975, 1984 and 1985.
This was the most sustained drought in any part of the world since records began, according to the research which is reported in the New Scientist magazine.
But climate experts had been unable to explain the drastic change.
Cold north
The research was carried out by Leon Rotstayn from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and his colleague Ulrike Lohmann from Canada's Dalhousie University.
They ran a simulation of global weather including the interaction between sulphur dioxide emissions and cloud formation.
As this pollution mainly happened in the industrialised north, the Northern Hemisphere became relatively cooler than the south.
This caused the rain belt to move south - away from the Sahel.
Johann Feichter of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, says the sulphur emissions probably worsened the natural cycle of droughts that would have happened anyway.
"It's still speculative, and the model isn't very refined, but it's very interesting.
During the past few years, rainfall has increased in the Sahel.
Mr Rotstayn explains this improvement by the "clean air" laws introduced in North America and Europe.
This legislation reduced sulphur dioxide emissions in response to another environmental crisis - acid rain.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4769978.stm
Africa could face more droughts
Africa could be faced with 25% less water by the end of the century because of global warming, scientists have warned in a new report.
The research, published in the journal Science, shows geographical factors will amplify changes in rainfall patterns resulting from climate change.
Semi-arid areas such as southern Africa would be the most vulnerable.
The authors add that water shortages could provoke conflicts over rivers that cross borders.
Failing rains are already a major cause of hardship in Africa, as witnessed by the current drought in East Africa, and climate scientists are working hard to predict how global warming will change rainfall patterns across the continent.
Managing water resources
The research shows that rainfall has a direct effect on the way water drains into streams and rivers, and therefore on supply.
When rainfall in an area is less than 400mm per year, there is virtually no drainage into rivers and streams. But above this threshold, as rainfall increases from 400mm to 1,000mm per year, drainage also increases.
The wettest and driest regions, such as the Congo basin or Sahara, should not be strongly affected.
But semi-arid regions, such as southern Africa and the Sahel in particular, are extremely vulnerable.
Managing their water resources will become even more critical than it is now, the authors warn, particularly where major rivers cross borders.
But in parts of East Africa, where rainfall is predicted to increase slightly, the extra water could extend existing swamps and the prevalence of the water-borne diseases they foster.
Either way, the study from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, shows adjusting to the effects of climate change could be even harder in Africa than previously realised.
Topic: Earthquakes in Southern California
Part One: Find and research an organization that is currently doing work on your narrowed topic and answer the following questions. Answer the questions and fill out the resource log (it is posted on the wiki under Assignments) and post it on your wiki.
What is the organization?
Southern California Earthquake Center
What exactly are they doing to try and combat or change your issue?
SCEC is “developing a comprehensive understanding of earthquakes in Southern California and elsewhere, and to communicate useful knowledge for reducing earthquake risk.”
What are some of the things you like about their program?
What are some questions you have about it?
Can people from all over the world help?
How could you become involved with this organization or model your action plan after it?
By raising money and awareness.
Name: Vanessa & Graham
Part Two: Find and research another organization (yes, this means your group is researching two organizations) that is currently doing work on your narrowed topic and answer the following questions. This person should answer the questions and print out the resource that they gathered this information from.
What is the organization?
USGS, It stands U.S geological survey.
What exactly are they doing to try and combat or change your issue?
Providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the earth; minimize loss of life and property of national disasters.
What are some of the things you like about their program?
That they are trying to reduce to death tolls from natural disasters. Also we like that they have a wide range of topics they are trying to help.
What are some questions you have about it?
How many people know about and take part in the activities that USGS runs?
How could you become involved with this organization or model your action plan after it?
We could work side by side with the USGS in cutting down the problems we face today little by little. Also we could draw their attention to earthquakes in southern California.
Name: Miles & Erik